Hopes and Tradegies
by WillowClaw32
Summary: Annabeth is the popular girl in school, the biggest bully of Percy Jackson, who is the poorest kid in school, tortured by everyone but two people. But when Annabeth is diagnosed with lung cancer with has the chance to spread farther, is there a whole new risk? BASED ROUGHLY OFF OF WOLF'S LAW BY thelostrelic! Rated T
1. Chapter 1

Annabeth should have died the day Percy did.

Well, it's not like she wanted to die, but it would've been easier if she just died without anyone near her. No pain or suffering.

But of course, an explanation is in hand, so on with the story!

o.O.o

Annabeth walked down the hall with her friends Thalia, Piper, and Hazel. They were all popular, dating some of the most popular guys. Annabeth was with Luke Castellan, who practically ruled Goode High School. Piper was with Jason Grace, sorta like a second-in-command in terms of the Student Democracy, as some people called it. And Hazel was with Frank Zhang, who was just up there. Thalia was the only one of us without a boyfriend, but it didn't matter to the girls, who were practically joined at the hip.

"Heads up Annabeth!" Hazel hissed to her in a whisper, giving her head the slightest toss behind them. A small frown crossed Annabeth's features as she glanced back. When she saw who was behind, seeming to follow the group, a smile lit her face back up and she lagged behind the others.

Luke, Annabeth's boyfriend, grinned at her, blue eyes bright as always, sandy-blonde hair slightly messy, which was new. The one thing that ruined the image was the long scar on Luke's left cheek. But she had long since stopped caring, liking Luke because of his personality. Or atleast what she knew of it.

They embraced before standing at arms length. Luke studied Annabeth quickly, without her noticing, before his eyes landing on her calculating gray ones.

"How's your morning been?" Luke asked. Annabeth shrugged. "Same as usual. Meet up with Piper, Thalia, and Hazel. Walk to school. How about you?" She was answered with a soft sigh.

"I've definitely had better," the boy mused. Annabeth let her face darken slightly, a look on worry lighting her eyes. "Is it May again?"

May was Luke's mother. She wasn't the idea figure you wanted raising you. She was blind and had these 'visions' often. She still believed Luke was a young boy, before he ran away and found her and Thalia, though not exactly in that order. She baked cookies that always burned and had a stale lunch bag on the counter, which has sat there for two years.

She was perfect. Note the sarcasm.

Luke nodded, a deep frown making his face look intimidating and he stepped back. "Sorry Annabeth. I've got to go catch up with Jason and Frank," he muttered, turning and striding away with a stiff, authoritive demeanor, leaving Annabeth staring after him, confused. She merely sighed, turning around to try and catch up with her friends when she literally ran into someone.

She tumbled to the ground with a yelp, catching herself with her hands. She avoided any injury, so that was good. Annabeth sniffed, getting to her feet and looking over at the person who had clumsily bumped into her. She scowled at who turned to face her after getting up.

It was Percy Jackson, the poorest person in school, most bullied, and most shady. He had one friend, and one acquaintance. Grover Underwood, who was just considered as a nature freak, and Nico di Angelo, who everyone called Emo and mysterious.

Percy was not to much of a looker. He had raven-black hair that was naturally messy, and pale-ish skin, though not as pale as Nico's. He was obviously malnourished. You could tell by his build. It was thin, yet strong. His eyes were truly something though. A beautiful shade of sea-green that reminded Annabeth of the sea.

Annabeth's nose wrinkled and he didn't look so pleased himself. In fact, he merely stuffed his hands in his pockets, smirked, and sneered, "Little Miss Perfect actually has a flaw?" She scowled deeper, though confusion glittered in her stormy-gray eyes, which was apparently not as hidden as it usually was.

He explained with one word, sounding agitated. "Unfocused."

Annabeth pursed her lips. "Well, you were certainly not focusing either!" she shot back, trying to come up with a provoking come-back.

"Well, I'm not a Little Miss Perfect, now am I?" he asked snarkily.

Desperately, Annabeth pondered on a stinging remark, but she couldn't come up with one. Unfortunately, Percy saw this. His smirk changed from a taunting, challenging one, to one that showed triumph.

"And look! She isn't such the know-it-all as everyone thought, huh?" Annabeth found herself feeling hurt by the comment, but the raven-haired boy turned away without another word and stalked down the empty hallway, footsteps hardly making a sound.

The curly-haired girl felt frustration bubble up from a deep pit in her stomach, forming a mass in her chest that threatened to explode into anger. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, counting to ten in her head before continuing after her friends. She found them in homeroom, laughing with each other, though they all stopped when they saw Annabeth.

Annabeth smiled at her friends. "Hey guys! What's so funny?" she asked tentatively. Piper shrugged before someone else answered. "It was silly. Not really funny at all," she said. Annabeth's smile faded into a look of confusion. "But you guys were-"

"It was really nothing!" Thalia snapped, rolling her electric-blue irises out of habit. Annabeth scowled. "I'm sorry for intruding on your secret conversation," she muttered, pushing curly-blonde hair out of her eyes.

Hazel sighed, looking at her with golden-amber eyes. "We're sorry Annabeth. Everyone's just a little on edge. But it really was stupid. If we told you, we'd waste your time." Annabeth thought about it.

"I'll respect your privacy, but you guys are my friends. You'll never waste my time!" Piper plastered a smile on her face, and Hazel did too. But Thalia's look more genuine. She smiled at them and after Homeroom, they spread out to go to their classes.

o.O.o

At the end of the day, Annabeth met up with Luke, who seemed to be better from this morning. They kissed for about two minutes before pulling away, gripping each other's hand and walking out of school. Annabeth noticed out of her peripheral vision, a certain raven-haired boy that she really hated. She merely sniffed and looked away, muttering an obscenity, directed towards Percy before climbing into Luke's car.

* * *

**Review!**

**Oh, yeah, I should explain myself. I'm WillowClaw32, though call me Willow! I've been on fanfiction for a while now, but couldn't write a story due to OpenOffice and Dropbox complications. But I have resorted to GoogleDocs. So, yep! Give me tips! Tell me what you think!**

**And, this story is roughly based along the lines of Wolf's Law by thelostrelic, which I GREATLY recommend. It's wonderful, over 80k words, 25 chappies, over 1000 reviews, and she was awarded "Best AU" or something like that. It is so wonderful! Though beware it is Rated M. Not for sexually themes, but for dark, angsty scenes.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! I'm back! And thank you for the wonderful reviews, and, to one guest who pointed out something I realized after I wrote the first chapter XD thelostrelic, is in fact a guy. l:3**

* * *

Percy had his eyes to the ground as he walked through the hallway, not really paying attention to where he was walking. He was about to glance up to see if he was close to his homeroom when someone collided into him, making them both fall. He got to his feet leisurely, not minding taking his time. When he saw who had bumped into him, his thoughts darkened, bad thoughts rushing into his head, a string of unsaid obscenities flashing across his mind.

_Annabeth _freaking _Chase!_

He watched her wrinkle her nose in a very unlady-like way, a scowl darkening her face, her gray eyes almost black. He almost expected lightning to flash in them, as they reminded him of a storm.

Percy didn't give her the satisfaction of assuming he was too frightened to reply, because he was feeling even bolder than he usually was. He stuffed his hands into his jean pockets and smirked.

"Little Miss Perfect actually has a flaw?" he sneered, awaiting her reaction. Actually, she had many. She was too smart. She was self-centered. And most importantly, Annabeth was mean as _hell._

When the raven-haired boy saw her scowl deepen, he wanted to smirk more, but then he noticed confusion, which would have been unseen by everyone else, in her eyes. He was surprised by this, though didn't show it. "Unfocused," Percy said snappily, his voice clearly agitated.

Finally, the reaction he had been expecting. She pursed her lips.

"Well, you were certainly not focused either!"

"Well, I'm not Little Miss Perfect, now am I?"

He waited for her next remark, feeling his spirit's lift at the look on her face, pondering deeply what to say. It supplied him with more fuel. His smirk shifted to one of triumph. "And look! Looks like she isn't such the know-it-all everyone thought, huh?"

He could see her emotions as though they were scrawled in huge lettering on a page. Hurt was one of the words. He turned away, stalking down the hallway silently, fury expanding in his chest.

Like she actually had the right to feel hurt by his words. She had made him suffer almost beyond fixing, but he learned how to bounce back stronger. And, he had quite the way with words. He could make anyone feel small in vocabulary when he spoke of importance.

As Percy walked to Mr. Brunner's class, he met up with Grover, exchanging some words before going on silently. He was thinking of his unfortunate run-in with _her _when Grover interrupted his thoughts.

"You seem kind of ticked, Perce. What's up?"

Percy never knew why, but somehow, Grover could read his most hidden emotions. It was quite frustrating, being Percy usually kept things like his feelings in the dark to everyone around him. But he was so tempted to tell Grover, he explained simply, two words rolling off his tongue. His tone was disgusted and angry.

"Annabeth Chase." Grover winced, making Percy regret telling him. But Grover noticed, once again, an straightened. "She really needs to learn to be nice," he heard his friend huff under his breath, but Percy pretended not to hear him.

As they took their seats in Mr. Brunner's latin class, Percy noticed Nico di Angelo. Him and the pale boy had some in common. Finances was not in the list.

Nico came from a rich family, though his mother had died long before in an explosion. And Percy knew just that much from Grover's family, who had seen it on the news. Miraculously, Nico and Bianca, his sister, survived. Though she had died later on too, disappeared.

Percy was caught by surprise when Nico gave him a slight wave. He gave him a nod in acknowledgement, to greet him. With that, Nico turned away.

Time seemed to go on endlessly as Percy began to doze in the middle of class. He was awoken by a tap on his shoulder. He heard barely suppressed laughter, but he drowned it out, turning his full and undivided attention to Mr. Brunner, who was looking at him, slight disapproval in his eyes. Percy merely huffed silently in annoyance.

Mr. Brunner had always been his favorite teacher, but the guy pushed him really hard. Despite his deep, philosophical comments on particular things, he really sucked at reading and remembering big words. Percy had dyslexia, an untold excuse for his reading problem. And as for the words part, his brain was stuffed to the brim with them , leaving no space for more. So when they had a test in latin, he usually did badly.

But Percy didn't dwell on his flaws at school. That is something he would rather do at home, if that's what you'd want to call his old, abandoned apartment building which was hardly stable enough to not collapse, home.

Everyone in school knew he was poor. What they didn't know was that Percy was homeless. They didn't know he truly feared, deep down, when the bullying would get too bad. They would never, ever know anything more than what they already did. He swore to himself over and over to be a sealed book, not open to anything, never giving away his darkest secrets, or information.

Finally, the bell declaring the period was over sounded and he gathered his things silently, tossing a nod in Nico's direction before repeating the gesture to Grover. He walked out of the classroom before anyone could catch up and mock him, heading to Ms. Dodds' pre-algebra class, his least favorite subject of all time.

The day passed on slowly, until, at long last, the dismissal bell blared, causing the class to become chaos as teenagers scrambled out of the building clumsily. Percy was one of the last people out, and while walking to the parking lot, he noticed Annabeth Chase and Luke Castellan making out in the hallway. He snorted in disgust, but they didn't seem to notice, as neither of them changed expression or pulled away to look at the disturbance.

As the green-eyed boy walked to the long length to his shelter, he kept a low profile, no one seeming to notice him. Thank the gods, too. He made it too the building, walking in and collapsing on the floor that had long since stopped being uncomfortable. He smiled lightly. Finally, home, where no one would taunt him. Torture him. No one could harm him in anyway.

Percy exited the crumbling apartments, heading to the store. He slipped inside easily, fumbling in his pocket. Two dollars sat in the cloth. Quickly, after looking around, he slipped a bottle of alcohol in his jacket, grabbing a candy bar from a rack to make him seem less suspicious. He purchased the Hershey bar and walked home, smiling almost sadly. He once again entered the house, bringing out the bottle and sipping down the burning liquid as easily as he would with water, the candy bar forgotten, most likely to be eaten later, in a drunken, happy state.

* * *

**I went no further than saying he drank the alcohol, since I am not going to describe what he did in the state, or at least not now.**

**I've had the question of how to make a story with GoogleDocs. Simply open up Docs, write the story, then click file. You'll see an option which says, **_**Download as… **_**My recommendation is to use the OpenDocument format, labeled ( .**_**odt **_**) Then, it will appear in downloads! I hoped this helped :3**

**Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Someone deserves a shoutout!**_  
_

**ICECREAMROCKS don't dis me - Robyn has been super nice and we've been talking and she so awesome! I'm glad to know she likes my story, just like the rest of you! You should check out her stories!**

**I recommend Kidnappers and Flashbacks by her :3**

* * *

_Friday_

As the week past on by uneventfully, she climbed out of Luke's car, smiling at him before turning away. She walked in her house, closing the door silently, careful not to make much noise. She didn't like to slam things, especially when her hearing was more acute than most people.

Annabeth coughed slightly, a strange sound. She frowned in confusion. Well that was new. Perhaps she was catching something. But the cough didn't sound as such. She gave herself a shrug, pushing it to the back of her mind, though it nagged at her as though she should be truly concerned.

She walked into her room, dropping her bag and walking back into the living room, surprised to see her father there, looking ready to leave. "Come on Annie! Time to get going or we'll be late!" Frederick said, making Annabeth perk. She had forgotten!

"Crap, I forgot! I need to call Thalia!"

"Call her in the car."

"But-"

"Come on!"

"Fine!" Her tone was mildly playful, a smile curling at the edge of her lips. She jogged to catch up with her father, who was at the door, exiting and closing the door as he locked the door. She couldn't help but notice she was already fatigued with the small jog. She frowned, catching her breath, careful that her father didn't notice.

Annabeth climbed into the passenger seat, dialing Thalia's number. Thalia picked up almost immediately. This is how their conversation went like this:

"Hi Annie."

"Don't call me Annie." She could practically see Thalia roll her eyes.

"Whatever Annie. Anyways, what did you need?"

"I can't go over right now."

"But Annab-"

"I have a doctor's appointment! I'll try to make it later, okay?"

Annabeth heard a grumble. "Fine."

"Talk to you later!"

"Later, Annabeth."

With that, the line went dead and Annabeth put her phone in her jean pocket, relaxing as they drove to the hospital.

They hopped out of the car when Annabeth coughed again. Frederick frowned, tensing slightly. "Good thing we're getting you checked out today," he said. Annabeth nodded, though gave her father a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. It's probably nothing, or just a cold." Her father managed a grin and nodded. "Probably," he decided, holding the door open for his daughter.

As Annabeth walked in, she winced, hand coming up to her chest. The pain was there again. She tried a deep breath, but that made it worse, so she stopped breathing so heavily. It slowly subsided as they walked to the clinic. Just as we got there, we were called for. I followed the women back to the room, telling me the doctor, Dr. Normand, would be in shortly.

Finally, after five endless minutes, coughing once in the time period, a man who she guessed was Dr. Normand came in. He gave her a smile, a small, sincere smile. "Hello Annabeth. Here for your checkup, hm?" Annabeth returned his smile. "I believe so. This is the hospital, correct?" The doctor gave a small laugh. "Yes, this is the hospital."

He went over standard procedure, finally checking her breathing. He frowned as he listened to it. "Well, Annabeth, it seems that your breathing is uneven. Have you been experiencing shortness in breath lately? Or getting fatigued easily?" Annabeth frowned and nodded. "Both. It started not long ago, but it's still different." Dr. Normand nodded, his face serious.

"Well have to do some tests. I'll order a CT to find what's wrong," he said and Annabeth nodded, starting to feel worried. She coughed her raspy cough, getting the doctor's attention. She winced. Oops. "When did that start Annabeth?" She looked away. "When I got home today." He nodded.

"Okay," was all he said, exiting the room. Frederick entered after. "Hey honey! Everything go fine?" Annabeth glanced at her father, who oblivious to the problems. "I need a CT."

His entire face fell. "What's wrong?" Annabeth shrugged cynically. "My breathing is uneven."

They got the test done and they were brought back to the room. Dr. Normand arrived with her, motioning for her father to sit, which he did.

"Well, there is no easy way to put this, but I won't try to trim around the flowers. Mr. Chase- Annabeth- I'm afraid you have a tumor."

Annabeth just stared at the doctor confoundedly, eyes barren, and for once, vacuous. Her father tried to talk, but he couldn't make out the words.

"C-cancer?" Annabeth squeaked, voice small. Dr. Normand nodded gently. "Lung cancer. I have the scans. Would you like to see them?" Annabeth nodded, and he set them up. He pointed to her left lung.

"This is your lung." He pointed to a big mass, not as big as her organ, but big. "This is the tumor. We can't do surgery with such a big risk of tearing your lung. You would be on the bottom of the transplant list, which would mean you would die before you got one."

Frederick piped up, voice spent, "How long does she have?" Dr. Normand had picked up the demeanor a doctor used when telling bad news. "The maximum is a year and a half. The minimum is about nine months. But it depends if the cancer starts to spread."

Annabeth sat there, gray eyes hollow, portraying what a rock looked like. The irises at least. She felt numb, her body rigid. Her father and Dr. Normand were speaking of Chemotherapy, but there voices were indistinct. How?

Her whole world felt like it was slowly decaying.

* * *

_Sunday_

Percy was staying with Grover at his house, lounging with his friend as they talked about really nothing.

"Do you think Juniper likes me?" Grover asked suddenly, causing Percy to smirk.

"Why do you ask?" he mused innocently, making his friend's face flush full of color. "Screw it!" Percy chuckled. "Calm down G-man!" he exclaimed. He noticed Grover smile. "Do you?"

Percy leaned up and clapped Grover on the back. "Of course! I can tell by the way she smiles at you and talks to you," he assured his friend, heartening him. "Really?"

"No, I just said that because I wanted to hear my beautiful voice." Grover had been waiting for a snide remark, but he just grinned. "Okay then."

"I better be going Grover. We have school tomorrow and it's getting late. Thanks for keeping me for dinner though!" Percy said, getting to his feet. "'Course! See you at school."

"Bye!"

And with that, Percy left.

* * *

_Monday - 3:37_

Annabeth sat in the storage room she had sort of sheltered in everyday since the news. She'd practically turned into a person that was fake, forcing sincere smiles, pretending to be okay. What really made her feel herself again was her annoyance with Percy Jackson. All throughout the day, whenever he was near her and her friends, his sea-green eyes pierced her, as though he knew she wasn't meaning anything she was doing.

So as she on the floor of the storage room, criss-cross, elbows on her knees and head in her hand, crying, she felt so _mad!_ At _him!_

Annabeth assumed she had been louder than she thought because the door opened, then closed again after some shuffling. She felt the need for comfort, so without truly thinking, she immediately leaped up, holding on to the person as hard as she could, crying into a shirt. By the feel of his shoulders, it was a boy. She prayed to God it was Luke. She assumed, being the boy embraced her back.

As she calmed down, a hand stroking her back, it occurred to her Luke didn't hug her like this, not even when she was sad or upset. He never stroked her back. He just hugged her with strong arms and said calming words. But no words were spoken.

Annabeth wiped her eyes and moved back slightly, her heart literally skipping a beat when she saw who she had embraced. Black hair, pale skin, sea-green eyes, piercing right through her gray ones.

_Percy Jackson._

How did she react to _this_?! She just leaped into _Percy freaking Jackson's _arms! Without even looking! She mentally scolded herself, but felt herself not wanting to move away. Apparently, Percy seemed to notice this, being he smirked at her. "So Miss Perfect likes hugs from Nobody, hmm?" Annabeth frowned and stepped away, wrapping her arms around herself. Percy blinked, surprised.

"Geez, Annabeth, what's wrong?" he asked, green eyes softening for once, which they never did when he looked at her. Annabeth scowled at him. "Like you'd really like to know." Percy didn't even looked slightly annoyed or frustrated at her answer. He merely sighed and leaned against the door, crossing his arms, a finger tapping repetitively against his lower ribs. Annabeth found it kind of distracting.

"Why are you here anyways?" the blonde girl asked, insistent on shaking off the cold she got when she stepped away from him. Percy shrugged. "I heard crying. I thought the voice sounded familiar. So I came in and you didn't even look up. Just...hugged me," he explained, scratching the back of his neck. She managed a smile at this gesture.

Apparently, this made him feel more awkward because his brows furrowed together. She dropped the smile and sighed.

"What's wrong?"

Annabeth internally thought about slapping him. Couldn't he just butt out?! She grumbled some obscenity, though Percy didn't hear it, or pretended not too. Annabeth slid down against some free space, Percy sliding down beside her. She blurted it out without thinking.

"I have a tumor."

Percy's eyes widened.

"Lung cancer. I have a minimum of nine months, which depends if the cancer spreads or not. If it does, I have a higher risk."

Percy was absolutely stunned. "B-but-"

"No!" she snapped. "Don't you _dare _look bad! You didn't know, you're hardy mean to me, I'm mean to you, and yet you're here," Annabeth motioned around them. "-with me, being so nice." She shook her head.

Percy nodded. "Okay. Do your bratty friends know? Your boyfriend?" Annabeth shook her head, feeling warmth flood her face. He merely nodded, as if he didn't understand.

"You shouldn't tell them."

"I wasn't planning on it."

"Oh."

"And if you tell anyone, _anyone! _I don't care who it is you tell, I will…."

"Okay, okay!" Annabeth smiled and looked forward at Percy. "Do you always hear people crying and go comfort them?" By the way he rubbed the back of his neck again, she assumed he didn't.

"I've never heard anyone crying other than you. So, on a different point, since you told me about your cancer, are we like, friends?" he asked clumsily.

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Do you _want _to be friends?" He shrugged. "If you think about it, you might want- I don't know- _sincere _sympathy? Because if your friends even bothered to tell how you really felt, maybe they would have learned to read you by now."

As the words sunk in, she frowned. He was right. She lifted her gaze back up that she hadn't realized she dropped. "Okay then. Friends."

That's when he gave her a smile. _His _smile. Not like he gave everyone was mean to him, but something he gave to his _friends! _It was….gorgeous, if you wanted to put it like that. Wonderful!

So she returned it with her best smile. Because that smile was worth a thousand.

* * *

**Proud? Or no? I hope so. This chapter took two days to do. Five pages long. I'm getting better guys! It took two days because I don't have a lot of time, really.**


	4. Chapter 4

Annabeth sat in the chair at the dinner table, frowned and picking at her food. Her parents were going on with their usual banter, though didn't seem to understand what was up with Annabeth.

_Should I have really decided to be his friend?_

It was what she wanted to know the most. Was it really such a good idea. How could she know this wasn't some part of a maniacal plan? But, really, the suspicion was more fantastical to even be considered.

But you could never be too sure, is what Annabeth had thought when she realized how dumb her thought really was. Suddenly, she was jerked back to here-and-now.

"Annabeth, dear, are you okay?" It was her father. Annabeth looked up. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I'm just thinking of my new friend. I'm not sure about him." Her mother merely frowned as she ate a spoonful of peas. "Why?" Annabeth picked at her food once again. "Well, his name is Percy Jackson. He's sorta the poorest kid in school and has one friend. Me and him.. weren't exactly on good terms. In fact, he's sorta been getting back at me this week for being such a jerk to him."

"Jerk? Annabeth, were you _bullying _him?" Athena suddenly snapped. Annabeth flinched. "Anyways, like I was saying, he was making week terrible before I was diagnosed. Today, he found me drowning in my tears in a storage closet and we became friends. But... I'm not sure if I did the right or wrong thing."

Frederick looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging. "You'll find out soon enough."

So much for advice. I hurriedly finished dinner and the stairs to my bedroom, pushing open the door and changing. She swung the door open once more. "Going to sleep! G'night!" she called. "Already? It's only 7:29!" she heard her father reply. "I've gotta get up earlier than usual!"

Annabeth didn't bother waiting for an answer. She shut her door and flopped on her bed, pulling the covers over her. Almost immediately, darkness washed over her.

* * *

Annabeth woke up at three the next day. She breathed out in relief and dressed herself, sneaking into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. She slipped on some socks and put on her converse, lacing them up and heading out the front door.

Annabeth jogged down the street heading for Thalia's house. As to why Thalia wanted her there so freaking early, she didn't know. As she arrived, she held up her hand to knock, but immediately, the door swung open and she was pulled inside.

"Finally!" Thalia said. She didn't watch how loud she was. She lived on her own, though her father helped support her financially, so she wouldn't be evicted. Oh, her father is Zeus Grace, a millionaire, so he had money to spare.

"It's three in the damn morning, what do you want?" Annabeth asked, irritated. She was always cranky when she was tired.

Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Geez. I needed help. I'm having a party tonight and I need help setting everything up." Annabeth groaned. "Seriously, Thals? Wake me up at three in the morning so you can get help decorating for a _party_?" Thalia gave her a sheepish smile. "Please?"

Annabeth sighed in defeat. "Fine. But don't expect me to come. I have plans today." Thalia scowled. "You _need _to be there! What plans? Luke's coming!" Annabeth felt herself wishing she could go.

"I have important plans tonight. My history book is taking me on a study date."

Thalia scoffed. "Wow. I've never heard _that _excuse before!" she exclaimed, sounding rather impressed.

Annabeth smirked triumphantly. "Ha."

"Come on! Your history book can accept a reign-check, right?"

"No. The test is tomorrow."

"Annie!"

"Don't call me Annie!"

"Oh, whatever Annie!"

"Thals."

"Yes Annie?"

The next thing she knew, Annabeth leaped at Thalia, a playful grin on her face. Thalia blinked in surprise, but caught her best-friend.

The momentum brought them both down.

Annabeth pinned Thalia and smirked. "Ha. That shows you to call me Annie!"

"Exactly, Annie." Annabeth pressed her lips together in frustration. "Just shut up." she muttered. "Ah, but 'shut' doesn't 'up'!" The blonde-girl sighed in irritation.

"Where is the stuff?"

* * *

Annabeth and Thalia had decorated everything in the house, apart from bedrooms and bathrooms. Who was going in there for a party? Especially the bathrooms. What, were they going to dance with their feet in a toilet?

Thalia thanked Annabeth for the help and they both went to school with each other. Thalia had given her a ride.

"You're coming to my party. No excuses!" Thalia said and exited her car quickly, before Annabeth could protest. She let out an incoherent obscenity and opened the door, slamming it gently, so she wouldn't break the car or something.

* * *

The day passed by slowly. Finally, it was lunchtime. Being Annabeth was mad at Thalia, for now, she didn't sit at her usual table. Instead, she walked around until she found Percy, sitting with Grover Underwood. They seemed to be talking about anything and everything. Annabeth didn't hesitate when she sat down, a short distance from Percy and Grover. "Mind if I join?"

Grover looked absolutely stunned, and his pupils over to Percy, raising a questioning eyebrow. Percy merely shrugged, a ghost of a smirk on his lips. "Well, you've already sat down, right?" he said.

Annabeth shrugged. "Yes, I have." Grover seemed really surprised. "When did you get, I don't know, friendly?" Annabeth blinked at his words. "Would you like me to be a jerk?" she replied simply. Grover shook his head no. "Um, yeah, I'm good."

"Thanks for the offer though," Percy added, grinning. Annabeth raised her own eyebrow at the raven-haired boy.

"So, why are you over here, hm?" Percy asked. "I'm mad at Thalia." Percy nodded. "Okay. Makes sense. You know, if you're still mad at her later, we could always hang out."

Annabeth sighed. "I would say tonight, but I have to go to Thalia's stupid pa-" She froze, a smirk curling her lips.

"Nope. Wait, looks like my schedule has just cleared."

Percy tilted his head, as did Grover. "My parents aren't letting me out on a school night. And we have company over today," she explained, smirking, clearing her throat. They seemed to get it.

"Oh!"


End file.
